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Saturday, May 28, 2011

I am ginormous relative to my first pregnancy with Levi. I can not imagine how big my belly will be at nine months. I'm trying to eat healthy. In fact most days I set new goals. Like today I vowed to cut out salt and sugar. Ha, ha. We ended our day in a Blues bar with greasy french fries and a club sandwich. Oh, the guilt! Even worse, I'm still hungry!

In the morning we went for a long walk down at the beach to test out Levi's new wagon. I also test drove my new/old garage sale dress. It was super comfortable and nothing fell out, so I'm giving it a thumbs up for pregnancy appropriate. I had to snap pictures of pretty blooms along the way since Vancouver Spring is a bit touch and go these days.

When we got home we had our very own farm to table lunch with greens I picked from our garden. It made for a yummy salad!

The afternoon was the best part of our Saturday (I get tired of lugging around our big Canon so bear with the phone pics). We hopped on the bus and headed to Main Street so Ben could pick up some electronics for a guitar pedal he's modifying. Levi loves the bus. He cheers, "Yay!" every time the bus stops and then starts again. Our plan for a snack turned into a meal at a Blues bar. We stumbled across it and were impressed by how our company went from Main Street hipsters to high hair middle agers as soon as we walked through the door. After dinner we strolled along Main Street, enjoying the sunshine and vintage stores. Just before heading home we stopped in at Front and Company where Ben bought me an awesome peacock ring. I do love me some costume jewelry!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Kelli Murray is an amazing illustrator and soon to be mommy. I was visiting her blog and came across some of her nursery inspirations which I thought were lovely. It's funny that when it comes to baby rooms we often think of a bright colour palette. I love how these nursery's are all in muted tones and neutrals.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

I'm finally understanding the joy of baking and have been experimenting with some "weird" recipes. They only sound weird, I swear my latest batch of biscuits were delicious! They were sugar cookies with kalamata olives in them. Sweet and salty. What a great combination and even better when eaten with a Caesar in hand (virgin of course. Woe to diet limitations during pregnancy!)

I'd like to pretend this baking experience was of Martha Stewart standards but unfortunately it was not without incident. First of all I didn't have wax paper to prevent the dough from sticking when being rolled out. I grabbed Levi and ran upstairs to borrow some from our neighbors. Problem solved.

I also discovered I do not own a single cookie cutter. I cut the dough with a pizza cutter. It did not make for pretty looking biscuits. The really epic error was deciding that wax paper was the same as parchment paper and therefore safe to bake the biscuits on. It's not. The wax paper melted, then smoked and turned our house into a haze. Levi was all, "what the heck is my mom doing!" Needless to say the first batch were burned to a crisp. The second batch turned out much better. Lesson learned.

This surprisingly delicious recipe is from one of my latest and favorite blog finds, Pinecone Camp. If you want to see how pretty these biscuits can look, visit here.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Vancouverites eagerly awaited the arrival of Anthropologie to our neck of the woods and now that it's here, Anthropologie is a beacon of style for city dwellers and suburbanites alike. Well folks, A little birdie at somuchtolove posted on facebook that Vancouverites can now anticipate the arrival of Topshop! The Bay has franchise rights for Topshop and Topman and plans to open up 50 locations, as shop in shops, across the country. Of course the first opening will be back East, but never fear, Topshop will arrive in Vancouver eventually. Check out this article for more info.

(I know some of y'all don't care but as I'm writing this the Canucks tied up the game with 14 seconds to go! Sending a high five into the WWW!)

Back on topic...Even with a prego bod I can envision myself in these fun Topshop finds.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Hello Victoria Day Long Weekend! Or Rapture Weekend...What the what!? If tomorrow's the end of the world then I'm glad I spent the day relaxing at the beach with my sweet boys. It twas a lovely spring day in Vancouver. Obviously I'm having way to much fun with Instagram, but the vintage feel of these photos reminds me of pictures of my parents when they had a young family.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

My friend Sarah recently did a post on her blog about hanging with my fam and she used Instagram photos which reminded me of what an awesome app it is. I know real photographers probably can't stand these easy, instant filters but I love them!

It hasn't exactly been a peaceful week in elasticpantcity land. Levi's testing the two-year-old waters and Ben has had a discouraging week at work. I'm tired. I don't know what was going on upstairs last night but it was like they were dropping a bowling ball over my head for hours...

I suppose we all deal with stress in different ways. Ben plays melancholic music, and Levi plays his emo, Help me, I'm two music.

We also eat to deal with stress.

One of the best ways I can toss the worries of the world aside is to think about new life. In spring everything begins to grow. I could stand for hours over my garden watching little buds push up from under the stinky, manure packed earth. Isn't life just like that? We find ourselves in stinky situations and somehow, by the grace of God, we can come out of those dark times into new light and life. We push our way out of the wreckage and find our faith and character strengthened.

And You speak your peace to me....

One things for certain, when it comes my time, I'm leaving this world with a satisfied mind.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Ben and I went to the film Water For Elephants on Friday night. The movie didn't leave a lasting impression but one of the previews did. The China Study, a book I read, indicating the importance of a plant-based diet, is now being turned into a documentary film titled, Forks Over Knives. Seeing the preview left me deeply convicted that I've been neglecting a variety of vegetables in my family's diet. I vowed that this week I would make a salad based dinner each day. I went online and scored 20 Healthy Salad Recipes from the Best Health website. I've made three so far and they've all been a hit with Ben and Levi.

Fruity Pasta Salad

New Potato Salad

Garlicky Tomatoe Salad

Other than working at getting us healthy I've been continuing my DIY decorating rampage. I might have a bit of a problem. I barely finish one project before I'm onto the next and my collection of fabric, paint and hardware is piling up. I'm sewing these flags to string across Levi's wall. Right now it is a blank canvas waiting for a pop of color. Levi loves them and they remind me of the flags at a race track. Since we're having another boy I can go all out on a boyish theme.